Suspect in 'execution-style' murder of woman, 21, caught after tipster recognizes him from 'sugar daddy' website: Court docs



A Texas man is accused of committing an "execution-style" murder of a 21-year-old nursing student in her apartment last month. A tipster told Houston police she knew the murder suspect from a "sugar daddy" website in 2012 and "instantly" recognized him, according to court documents.

After receiving an anonymous tip, police found the body of Muna Pandey — who had attended Houston Community College — in her Houston apartment August 26, according to prosecutors. Paramedics pronounced Pandey dead at the crime scene, according to a press release from the Houston Police Department. Pandey was from Nepal.

When police arrested Shah several days after Pandey's death, the suspect was still wearing the same blood-stained clothing seen on surveillance video when leaving the victim's apartment.

Investigators said Muna was shot three times in the torso and once “execution style" in the back of the head, according to court documents.

On August 28, the Houston Police Department shared a surveillance camera image of the murder suspect and requested the public's help in identifying the male.

Citing the criminal complaint, People magazine reported that a tipster informed Houston Police that she knew the murder suspect from a "sugar daddy" website in 2012 and "instantly" recognized him.

Houston Police said they arrested 51-year-old Bobby Singh Shah during a traffic stop on the night of August 28.

Shah was charged with capital murder and booked into the Harris County Jail.

According to the criminal complaint, a neighbor told investigators he heard "loud thumping" noises from Pandey's apartment on August 24.

Prosecutors highlighted that when police arrested Shah several days after Pandey's death, the suspect was still wearing the same blood-stained clothing seen on surveillance video when leaving the victim's apartment.

Officers also discovered a gun in Shah's car, according to prosecutors.

Citing court documents, KHOU said Pandey's friend told investigators she previously had been stalked, and he helped her install a motion-activated camera above the entrance to her apartment. Video from that camera reportedly shows Shah holding Pandey at gunpoint while she was holding a shoe box, a shopping bag, a black jacket, and a purse. He reportedly is seen on video pushing her inside and leaving an hour later while holding Pandey's purse. Authorities believe Shah killed her just before leaving, KHOU said.

Investigators did not make it clear whether Shah and Pandey had a pre-existing relationship.

Prosecutor Rebecca Marshall said, “I can only imagine what Muna’s mother is going through being halfway across the world, so I wanted them to know what would happen in court, what they could expect."

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to financially assist Pandey's mother, Anita, to fly from Nepal to Houston to "say goodbye to her only child and give Muna the farewell she deserves."

At the time of publication, the crowdfunding campaign had raised more than $36,000.

Shah is being held without bond, according to online court records of the Harris County District Clerk's Office.

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Tennessee's law enabling state to execute convicted child rapists now in effect — despite Democrat opposition



Tennessee has joined Florida in enabling trial judges and juries to put child rapists six feet under.

State House Majority Leader William Lamberth introduced House Bill 1663 in January. Republicans managed to pass the legislation in both chambers despite Democratic opposition.

State Rep. Aftyn Behn (Nashville), one of the bill's Democratic critics, insisted that the "death penalty is incompatible with the right to life." Behn, a pro-abortion advocate, suggested further that "it violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment and guarantees of due process of law and equal protection under the law."

Behn also suggested that that victims might be less likely to report crimes if they knew their abusers would be sentenced to death.

Lamberth responded to Behn, saying, "Directly from a survivor: 'My sister and I were abused by my father from a very young age. I just want you to know that I appreciate you pushing for the death penalty. I don't think it will stop people from telling about their abuse.' ... She's lived it. I trust her."

Florida Republicans faced similar opposition from leftists over their child-rapist death penalty law.

The leftist blog TruthOut denounced the legislation, suggesting the law was the result of an "anti-LGBTQ" legislative campaign and claiming further that the death penalty is "one of the most explicitly lethal manifestations of institutional racism and oppression." TheBody, an HIV resource blog, also suggested the legislation could be dangerous for LGBT people. Seattle Gay News expressed concern that the legislation could set the stage for the execution of persons who subject children to "gender-affirming" genital mutilations as well as those deemed to be "child groomers."

After Tennessee Republicans overcame the opposition of Behn and other Democrats, Gov. Bill Lee (R) ratified the legislation on May 9.

'If someone rapes one of our children, they forfeit their own life.'

Previously, an adult pedophile convicted of rape of a child aged 8-13 in the state would be looking at serving between 15-60 years in prison for a Class A felony. An adult pedophile convicted of aggravated rape of a child 8 or younger would necessarily receive life imprisonment without parole.

Now, in the first case of child rape, the sentence must necessarily be death, imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole, or life imprisonment. In the second case of aggravated child rape, the sentence must be death or imprisonment for life without parole.

If a jury cannot agree on a punishment, then the trial judge is to default to a sentence of life without parole for a child rapist.

The law also states that defendants with intellectual disabilities cannot be sentenced to death.

Ahead of his bill's passage, Lamberth noted, "We're going to protect our children in the state of Tennessee. If someone rapes one of our children, they forfeit their own life," reported the Tennessean.

"Life in prison for these evil people is simply too good," added Lamberth.

While the law went into effect Monday, it remains in a kind of limbo on account of Gov. Lee's moratorium on executions. In May 2022, Lee learned the state had not properly checked lethal drugs for bacterial contamination and called for an independent review. That said, Lee indicated the penalty remains on the table on a case-to-case basis.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Kennedy v. Louisiana that the Eighth Amendment prohibits states from executing child rapists in cases where the crime did not result and was not intended to result in the death of the child. Justices Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and the late Antonin Scalia dissented.

Justice Alito, who wrote the dissenting opinion, noted, "The Court today holds that the Eighth Amendment categorically prohibits the imposition of the death penalty for the crime of raping a child. This is so, according to the Court, no matter how young the child, no matter how many times the child is raped, no matter how many children the perpetrator rapes, no matter how sadistic the crime, no matter how much physical or psychological trauma is inflicted, and no matter how heinous the perpetrator’s prior criminal record may be."

Justice Alito stressed that the two reasons offered by the liberal majority on the court for this conclusion — that that there was a "national consensus" that the death penalty is not an acceptable punishment for child rape and that such a penalty is inconsistent with the "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society" — were "unsound."

After poking holes in the majority's opinion, Alito underscored that the Eighth Amendment is not a "one-way ratchet that prohibits legislatures from adopting new capital punishment statutes to meet new problems" and that "child rapists exhibit the epitome of moral depravity," inflicting "grievous injury on victims and on society in general."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who ratified House Bill 1297 last year imposing the death penalty for pedophiles who commit sexual battery against children under 12, made expressly clear that he is prepared to take the law "all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule judicial precedents which have unjustly shielded child rapists from the death penalty and denied victims and their loved ones the opportunity to pursue ultimate justice against these most heinous criminals."

Tennessee state Sen. Jack Johnson (R) also expressed confidence in April that the high court would rule in favor of the child-rapist execution bill he supported.

"Given the makeup of the current court, there is a strong possibility that Kennedy v. Louisiana could be overturned," wrote Johnson. "I feel very certain that the Supreme Court believes there is a strong, compelling state interest to protect children, and we believe this Court will support Tennessee's efforts."

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Healthy people with autism in their 20s set to be euthanized by both the Dutch and Canadian regimes



Two relatively healthy autistic women are set to be executed by their respective governments — one in the Netherlands, the first country to legalize so-called euthanasia, and the other in Canada, another northern nation where more than 4% of all annual deaths are now the result of state-facilitated suicides.

Zoraya ter Beek, a 28-year-old Dutch woman, and a 27-year-old Canadian woman identified as M.V. in court documents have both applied for state-facilitated suicide despite neither of them suffering a terminal or debilitating physical illness.

Ter Beek's boyfriend is apparently willing to hold her hand as she jumps into an early grave. M.V.'s father, alternatively, is desperately fighting to pull her away from the grips of Canada's suicide regime, which was originally scheduled to kill her on Feb. 1.

Both cases highlight the increasing willingness of the liberal-run countries to expand their state-facilitated suicide offerings to those who may be unable to provide informed consent along with the remainder of society's most vulnerable members.

Calling it quits on the couch

Ter Beek, set to be executed in May, told the Free Press that she wanted to become a psychiatrist but failed to see it through. The ill-fated Netherlander attributed her abortive attempts at a career to depression, autism, and an alleged borderline personality disorder.

Despite having a nice house, pets, and a supposedly loving 40-year-old boyfriend, ter Beek desperately wants her government to snuff her out while sitting on her couch at home. She apparently made the decision when her psychiatrist indicated they had tried everything, and it's "never gonna get any better."

"I was always very clear that if it doesn't get better, I can't do this anymore," ter Beek told the Free Press in a text message.

"Where the tree of life stands for growth and new beginnings," wrote ter Beek, "my tree is the opposite. It is losing its leaves, it is dying. And once the tree died, the bird flew out of it. I don't see it as my soul leaving, but more as myself being freed from life."

Ter Beek set the scene for how she was going to slough off this mortal coil.

"The doctor really takes her time. It is not that they walk in and say: lay down please! Most of the time it is first a cup of coffee to settle the nerves and create a soft atmosphere," wrote ter Beek. "Then she asks if I am ready. I will take my place on the couch. She will once again ask if I am sure, and she will start up the procedure and wish me a good journey. Or, in my case, a nice nap, because I hate it if people say, 'Safe journey.' I'm not going anywhere."

Ter Beek's boyfriend, who evidently has failed to dissuade his lover, will apparently wait around while a government official kills her. Afterward, he will find "a nice spot in the woods" to dump ter Beek's ashes.

"I'm a little afraid of dying, because it's the ultimate unknown," said ter Beek. "We don't really know what's next — or is there nothing? That's the scary part."

Fighting to save the vulnerable from the regime

M.V.'s father, identified as W.V., has long cared for his daughter with whom he lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Despite being relatively healthy and certainly not dying, M.V. was approved in December for what is euphemistically referred to in Canada as "medical assistance in dying," or MAID.

Canadian state media reported that by law, two doctors or two nurses have to approve a patient for MAID. M.V. managed to get one doctor's approval but was turned down by a second doctor. M.V. was offered a so-called "tie-breaker" physician, who then cleared her for execution on Feb. 1.

The day before M.V.'s scheduled execution, her father successfully obtained a temporary injunction.

The Calgary Herald reported that Sarah Miller, a lawyer for the father, stressed in her written brief for Justice Colin Feasby of the Court of King's Bench Alberta that M.V. "suffers from autism and possible other undiagnosed maladies that do not satisfy the credibility for MAID."

W.V. has indicated that his daughter "is generally healthy and believes that her physical symptoms, to the extent that she has any, result from undiagnosed psychological conditions."

Moreover, W.V. believes his daughter is "vulnerable and is not competent to make the decision to take her own life," according to Feasby's summary.

Miller further indicated that there "are genuine concerns with respect to impartiality" with regards to the tie-breaker physician who effectively signed the autistic woman's death warrant.

"There's no evidence before this court that she has an irremediable condition," added Miller.

Feasby ruled late last month that preventing the woman's execution would cause her irreparable harm.

"M.V.'s dignity and right to self-determination outweighs the important matters raised by W.V. and the harm that he will suffer in losing M.V.," wrote Feasby. "Though I find that W.V. has raised serious issues, I conclude that M.V.'s autonomy and dignity interests outweigh competing considerations."

While Feasby cleared the way for M.V.'s state-facilitated suicide, he nevertheless granted W.V. 30 days to appeal to the Alberta Court of Appeal.

W.V. has seized upon this last opportunity to protect his vulnerable daughter from the state.

Miller filed the appeal Tuesday on W.V.'s behalf, asking the province's top court to reinstate the injunction and compel the prospective victim to answer critical questions about her MAID application, reported state media.

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, noted, "Canada's euthanasia law was not designed to protect vulnerable people. The law is designed to protect the doctors who are willing to kill."

Culture of death

Blaze News previously detailed the findings of a report released last year by the Trudeau government, which indicated that in 2022, 4.1% of all deaths across the country were the result of state-facilitated suicide.

The federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau passed the Medical Assistance in Dying Act in 2016, legalizing euthanasia nationwide. Originally, applicants had to be 18 or older and suffering from a "grievous and irremediable medical condition" causing "enduring physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable" to them.

The rules have clearly been loosened since, allowing the country's eugenicist-founded health care system to execute those with PTSD, depression, anxiety, economic woes, and other survivable issues.

Whereas in its first year, MAID claimed the lives of 1,108 Canadians, that number spiked to 13,241 in 2022.

In a country with socialized health care, more deaths apparently are beneficial for the regime's bottom line.

Canada's Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer noted in an October 2020 report that "expanding access to MAID will result in a net reduction in health care costs for the provincial governments" — saving them hundreds of millions of dollars that would otherwise be spent on saving lives and providing human beings with they treatment they paid for as taxpayers.

The Netherlands has reportedly also seen a spike in euthanasia cases. As a proportion of all deaths in Holland, doctor-assisted suicides increased from under 2% in 2002 to over 4% in 2019. The number of euthanasia deaths have continued to climb in recent years — from 6,361 reported cases in 2019 to 8,720 cases in 2022.

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Execution canceled for 73-year-old Idaho killer, on death row for over 40 years, because of vein issue: A 'harmless old man'



The execution of Idaho's longest-serving death row inmate has been canceled after officials were unable to access a vein into which they could inject the prescribed lethal drugs.

Thomas Creech, 73, has been on death row since 1981, when he pled guilty to killing a fellow prisoner. He has also been convicted a total of four other murders in Idaho, California, and Oregon. While in custody, he told investigators that he may have murdered as many as 42 people by the time he was 24, though that number remains in doubt.

Over the years, Creech's execution has been authorized on 12 separate occasions, most recently in January. Though Idaho technically permits executions by lethal injection and firing squad, the state does not have the facilities for a firing squad, so lethal injection remains the de facto option for death row inmates.

At 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning, officials at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna began the process to execute Creech via lethal injection. Witnesses were brought into the proper chamber while a handful of protestors, many of them identifying as Christians, stood outside to demonstrate against the proceedings.

It seems their prayers may have been answered as officials tried in vain for 45 minutes to "establish an IV line," said Department of Corrections Director Josh Tewalt. By 11 a.m., the procedure was canceled, Creech was returned to his cell, and his death warrant will be allowed to "expire" as the state now considers its "next steps," Tewalt's statement added.

A statement from Creech's attorneys, members of the legal nonprofit Federal Defender Services of Idaho, slammed the "botched" execution of such a "harmless old man." "This is what happens when unknown individuals with unknown training are assigned to carry out an execution," the statement read in part.

Earlier this month, Creech was granted a hearing before a state parole board, asking the six-person panel to override his death sentence and allow him to die of natural causes in prison. During the hearing, some of his supporters — including former and current prison employees and the Ada County judge who gave him the death penalty — claimed that he was a changed man.

"For me, Tom has become a living symbol for the problems with the death penalty," wrote former state Rep. Donna Boe, a Democrat. "I have no doubt that he has changed and grown as a person, that he has true care and concern for others including the staff who work at the prison, and that an execution would be a tragic waste of life."

According to reports, Creech has developed relationships with prison staff. He also got married 25 years ago. Creech and his wife, LeAnn Creech, shared what they believed would be his last meal on Tuesday night.

Despite his pleas for "grace," the parole board deadlocked 3-3, thereby denying his motion. SCOTUS likewise declined his final appeals on Wednesday morning.

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British High Court orders death of baby girl after preventing her parents from taking her to Italy for treatment



Britain's High Court effectively executed a sick 8-month-old girl early Monday morning.

Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth of Derbyshire fought desperately in recent weeks to see that their daughter, Indi Gregory, would continue receiving treatment for her mitochondrial disorder or potentially undergo experimental treatment abroad so that they could spend more time with her.

Hope came in the form of support from Italy, not just from the Vatican but from the government, which gave Gregory citizenship and paved the way for her to be treated at the Vatican's Bambino Gesu Children's Hospital in Rome.

Despite international pressure, a fully comped alternative, and the parents' desperate pleas, England's High Court determined that Gregory would be better off dead sooner rather than later.

— (@)

Indi Gregory was born on February 24 with a rare degenerative mitochondrial disease that saps energy.

The staff at Queen's Medical Center in Nottingham recently decided to give up on helping the girl and sought to take her off life support, noting that death was in the girl's best interests, reported the BBC.

High Court Justice Robert Peel granted the medical center's application to stop life support in October, suggesting that despite the parents' moving "belief in Indi's resilience, courage, and fortitude," the medical evidence justifying termination was "unanimous and clear."

Peel's ruling cleared the way for the physicians' plan to wean the girl off of intubation and let her die, "at home or at a hospice."

Gregory's parents were evidently unwilling to let a London judge and some masked strangers determine the fate of their daughter.

"The doctors painted a terribly bleak and negative picture of Indi's condition during court proceedings," said the girl's father. "Indi can definitely experience happiness. She cries like a normal baby. ... We know she is disabled, but you don't just let disabled people die. We just want to give her a chance."

With the backing of the British advocacy group Christian Concern, Gregory and Staniforth made repeated attempts to have their little girl moved to a hospital that might actually try to keep her alive. The parents attempted to persuade Court of Appeal judges in London as well as judges at the European Court of Human Rights in France to overturn the fatal decision, reported the Telegraph.

Italy ultimately intervened, granting Gregory citizenship on Nov. 6 and agreeing to cover the cost of Indi's medical treatment at the Vatican's pediatric hospital. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pledged to do what she could to "defend her life" and pressured Britain's lord chancellor to help facilitate the girl's transfer to Rome.

Simone Pillon, a lawyer and former senator who helped secure a spot for Indi Gregory at the Vatican hospital, said in a statement, "A place is ready and waiting for Indi at a leading paediatric hospital, which will be funded by the Italian government. I hope there will be no further delay in the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust cooperating with the specialist Air Ambulance Service and to work with the family rather than cruelly denying them this chance."

On Thursday, the girl's Italian guardian, the consul in Manchester, Matteo Corradini, reportedly made a plea to the U.K. High Court, calling on Justice Robert Peel to cede the case to him under Article Article 9§2 of the 1996 Hague Convention.

The next day, the High Court ruled that the Italian efforts to save the child from the British health care system were "wholly misconceived" and that the baby's life support had to be removed "immediately," reported the Catholic News Agency.

Dean Gregory responded to the ruling, saying, "Claire and I are again disgusted by another one-sided decision from the judges and the Trust. The whole world is watching and is shocked at how we have been treated."

"This feels like the latest kick in the teeth, and we will not give up fighting for our daughter's chance to live until the end," added Gregory.

Justices Peter Jackson, Eleanor King, and Andrew Moylan all denied the distraught parents the ability to appeal the ruling, thereby sealing Indi Gregory's fate.

On Sunday, Christian Concern indicated that the baby had been transferred from Queen's Medical Care Center to a hospice, apparently with a security escort and police presence.

Indi had been moved to a hospice as opposed to home because Justice Peel reneged on his earlier order last Wednesday.

"Indi's life ended at 01:45. Claire and I are angry, heartbroken and ashamed," said Dean Gregory. "The NHS and the courts not only took away her chance to live a longer life, but they also took away Indi's dignity to pass away in the family home where she belonged."

"They did succeed in taking Indi's body and dignity, but they can never take her soul. They tried to get rid of Indi without anybody knowing, but we made sure she would be remembered forever. I knew she was special from the day she was born," added Gregory.

The grieving father indicated that Indi ultimately passed in her mother's arms.

While not religious, Dean Gregory had Indi baptized in September, telling an Italian newspaper, "When I was in court, I felt as if hell pulled at me."

"I thought that if hell exists, then heaven must exist too," said the father, noting he wanted his daughter to go to heaven.

Parents ‘heartbroken’ as baby Indi Gregory dies following failed legal battleyoutu.be

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True Justice For Israel Is Executing All Members Of Hamas

It is important to remind ourselves of what justice demands so that we may attain as much of it as is practicable.

Californian aborts her unborn baby and posts a video to TikTok in hopes of normalizing the practice



A 25-year-old California woman filmed the off-screen execution of her unborn baby and posted the video to TikTok, telling Newsweek her "hope would be that abortion becomes more normalized and seen as what it is—healthcare."

The woman, identified only as Monica of Los Angeles and a mother of one, indicated in the July 20 video that this was her first "at-home abortion."

The baby inside her was 9 weeks old, meaning it had all its essential body parts, including elbows, knees, a beating heart, a brain, lungs, and kidneys.

The child's heartbeat would likely have been audible on an ultrasound. However, Monica suggested that Planned Parenthood aided her in stopping that heartbeat forever, "smooth and quickly."

Her stated reason for getting an abortion was that she is presently shacked up with her boyfriend and roommates and "bringing another kid into this home is not ideal whatsoever."

In the video, set to Chopin's waltz-like Nocturne No. 2, Monica revealed she had used mifepristone, a controversial drug recommended by Biden's Food and Drug Administration that blocks progesterone, a hormone required for a pregnancy to continue, along with misoprostol, which clears the baby out of the uterus.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the FDA had exceeded its authority when it permitted mifepristone to be delivered by mail and administered to women too far along in their pregnancies to take the drug as recommended. The ruling will not, however, affect the availability of the drug, reported USA Today.

Even if access were ultimately affected in some states, there are virtually no limits on abortion in California.

Newsweek indicated the the FDA-approved regimen for medication-based abortions entails "taking a pill at a healthcare provider's office, clinic or hospital, before going home and taking the rest of the medication around 24 to 48 hours later."

Monica confirms in the video she had followed the Biden FDA's regimen, taking the initial pills at the clinic then going home, where she swallowed her way through a checklist of eight pills.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, medical abortion makes up 54% of all abortions executed in the United States.

Midway through the process of killing her unborn child, Monica complained of nausea, saying nausea "is the worst thing ever."

After chasing the life out of her, Monica noted she "ordered some Wendy's."

The next day, she reported having "made it" and being "OK."

"I definitely felt hesitant about documenting my abortion because I was so worried about the kind of response I would get," Monica told Newsweek. "It was my attempt to reach out to those who may feel alone or unsupported through such a vulnerable event and to show that there is nothing to hide when it comes to making a choice that is best for you."

Concerning her decision to share her child's final moments on social media, Monica said, "I think it's incredibly important for women to share stories like this because, in a big way, it helps to destigmatize abortion."

Whereas Monica put a positive spin on her experience, other women have remarked that it is a hellish ordeal.

A Reddit poster recently shared her harrowing experience of a medical abortion, expressing profound regret after having observed her 10-week-old child perish in her hands.

Live Action further noted that the woman had not be forewarned that in order to kill her child, she would have to essentially give birth first and that the entire ordeal would be both gruesome and painful.

My Abortion Pill Experience youtu.be

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'Ron DeSantis has done a lot worse': Convicted killer attacks Florida governor, uses obscene language in last words before being executed



A man put to death on Thursday used his last words to attack Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Donald Dillbeck, 59, brutally murdered Faye Vann more than three decades ago, committing the crime after he had escaped from a work-release job while he was already serving a life sentence for murdering Lee County Deputy Dwight Lynn Hall, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.

"I know I hurt people when I was young. I really messed up," Dillbeck reportedly said. "But I know Ron DeSantis has done a lot worse. He's taken a lot from a lot of people. I speak for all men, women and children. He's put his foot on our necks. Ron DeSantis and other people like him can suck our d****."

DeSantis signed Dillbeck's death warrant last month.

In a statement, Tony and Laura Vann noted that they had been "robbed of years of memories with" their mother, but that "the execution has given us some closure." They noted that they were thankful to the governor "for carrying out the sentence."

\u201cA written statement from Faye Lamb Vann\u2019s family, provided by the Department of Corrections. Dillbeck was convicted of stabbing Vann to death in 1990 in a Tallahassee mall parking lot.\u201d
— Kathryn Varn (@Kathryn Varn) 1677195431

DeSantis, a popular Republican figure who won re-election during the Sunshine State's 2022 gubernatorial contest, is widely viewed as someone who could potentially mount a presidential bid later this year. Prior to becoming Florida governor, DeSantis served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Former President Donald Trump, who has already announced a 2024 presidential bid, has been attacking DeSantis, referring to him as "DeSanctimonious" and describing him as a "RINO," which is an acronym that stands for "Republican in name only."

Donald Dillbeck execution set to happen today www.youtube.com

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South Carolina judge says firing squad, electric chair violate state constitution



A judge in South Carolina has ruled that two execution methods recently made available to death row inmates violate the prohibition against cruel, unusual, and corporal punishment codified in the state constitution.

On Tuesday evening, Judge Jocelyn Newman ruled that the firing squad and electric chair, two traditional means of execution which have fallen out of public favor in recent decades, could inflict severe pain and perhaps even a prolonged death, both of which could be considered "corporal" punishment.

As used in the state constitution, "corporal" refers not only to the body itself but to "mutilation of the body," Newman wrote in her ruling. This added protection against corporal punishment, she continued, offers "greater protections than those found in the Constitution of the United States," which bars only cruel and unusual punishment.

Last month, Newman presided over a lawsuit presented on behalf of four death row inmates in South Carolina — Brad Sigmon, Freddie Eugene Owens, Richard Moore, and Gary Dubose Terry — whose execution dates were looming and who were forced by the state to choose between the firing squad and electric chair since the drugs necessary for lethal injection have not been available in the state in nearly a decade.

During the four-day trial, Newman heard testimony from various witnesses who argued that a firing squad and electrocution both cause significant pain. Dr. Jonathan Arden, formerly of the medical examiner's office in Washington, D.C., stated the those who have been shot can experience excruciating pain for up to 15 seconds before they lose consciousness.

"In order for a volley of rifle shots to enter the front of the chest and impact and destroy the heart," Arden told the court, "there's a virtual guarantee that they will not only disrupt other soft tissues, which is a source of pain, but most importantly, they will break bones."

Arden also testified that the electric chair more or less amounted to "cooking" internal organs.

Despite testimony from witnesses who argued to the contrary, Judge Newman ultimately determined that the firing squad and the electric chair were both antiquated and inhumane forms of execution, a ruling which effectively forestalls executions for the foreseeable future. The state will likely appeal the decision.

Sigmon, Owens, Moore, and Terry were all convicted of at least one murder and sentenced to death between 1997 and 2002. South Carolina is one of just four states to authorize the use of firing squad in state executions and is one of eight states to permit electrocution. The last state execution in South Carolina took place in 2011.

Former CIA chief appears to endorse execution for Americans who spill nuclear secrets after new Trump allegations



Should execution be on the table for Americans who allegedly spill nuclear secrets?

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden appeared to endorse the idea late Thursday after new allegations accused former President Donald Trump of storing highly classified documents with nuclear information at Mar-a-Lago.

What is the background?

After Attorney General Merrick Garland admitted on Thursday that he personally approved the FBI raid on Trump's south Florida residence, the Washington Post reported, citing anonymous sources, that FBI agents raided Mar-a-Lago to retrieve documents with nuclear information.

The sources with whom the Post spoke "did not offer additional details about what type of information the agents were seeking, including whether it involved weapons belonging to the United States or some other nation. Nor did they say if such documents were recovered as part of the search," according to the newspaper.

If the sources are correct, it would explain why the Justice Department took such aggressive action against Trump by searching his private residence.

What did Hayden say?

After the Washington Post levied its allegations, NBC News presidential historian Michael Beschloss went viral with a tweet in which he reminded Americans the U.S. government has previously executed Americans for leaking nuclear secrets.

"Rosenbergs were convicted for giving U.S. nuclear secrets to Moscow, and were executed June 1953," Beschloss tweeted.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed after being convicted of leaking top-secret information to the Soviets. The information contained state secrets on nuclear weapons, jet engines, radar, sonar, and other invaluable technologies.

In response to Beschloss, Hayden, also a former four-star general, appeared to endorse execution as the appropriate punishment for those who leak nuclear secrets.

"Sounds about right," Hayden tweeted.

\u201cSounds about right.\u201d
— Gen Michael Hayden (@Gen Michael Hayden) 1660267160

Hayden also "retweeted" another person who suggested the alleged actions amount to espionage.

What did Trump say?

The former president pushed back against the allegations on Friday, denouncing them as a "hoax."

While it remains unclear whether the documents supporting the search warrant will be released publicly, one wonders why the Justice Department would have waited so long to retrieve documents from Trump if they in fact contained information on nuclear weapons.